


Backdrop

by p_dottie



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Homeworld au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-03-22 08:16:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3721732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/p_dottie/pseuds/p_dottie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is going to be a rather long series depicting the earlier years of Peridot and other Homeworld gems, how Jasper and Peridot first met, and the histories of the Crystal Gems when they were still on Homeworld. It will most definitely have romantic leanings between Peridot and Jasper, but that won't be the entire plot, just a large portion of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: Peridot's Assignment

From the moment she entered this world, from the first opening of her eyes and movement of her multiply articulated appendages, Peridot knew her purpose. She was instructed as soon as she was created, sent directly into the learning facilities fresh out of her shell as a blank slate ready to absorb. Ready to work for her planet. No thoughts of her own, no actions not dictated by a higher authority, she was a perfect machine being programmed for her one purpose: Gem technology engineering and operation.

It wasn’t an unpleasant existence; the robonoids were a big help, aiding in bringing her small parts from a day’s distance across the planet so she could finish holographic plans for the Diamond Authority’s various missions- the schooling was rigorous and demanded many real time assignments be completed to perfection.

It wasn’t as if she had a choice in profession even if she did have any objections to her curriculum- she was designed for this, she could never be anything else. Peridot wasn’t suited for the warrior’s lifestyle, nor the fast paced environment of the maintenance gems. Her body too fragile and pinned together like a finicky processing unit, social skills too rudimentary. Communication with others of different duties was limited, interaction for entertainment near prohibited. She was at ease, learning to work with the machines as a part of them.

 

*      *      *

 

Only a year into her training and Peridot was already excelling at nearly every aspect of her future career- she could interpret codes like breathing, run the most complex machines without difficulty. But as the fifth shattered glass screen slipped from her fingers onto the ground beneath her, covered in wires and remnants of other ruined projects, she began to doubt her abilities.

One of the biggest responsibilities given to an operator was making sure that their equipment was never tampered with or allowed to decrease in functionality. To be light years from Homeworld with no way of warping back instantly, it was imperative that operator Gems knew how to properly handle the most delicate of technologies, lest some vital machine be compromised leading to an impossible situation.

She could piece together the thinnest sheets of crystal fibers for projection, weave wires the thickness of a newly hatched Gem’s skin, and balance ten robonoids on one arm- all with the proper blueprints laid out in front of her of course. Peridot was not and has never been capable of artistic outlets.

The task she was assigned was simple enough: design a device for optical use in the event that a Gem were to lose their eyesight and not have the time to regenerate while on a mission. A new movement of “Renovate don’t repair” had been put into place, and the job of inventing these “renovations” for Gem bodies was thrust upon the first level operators in training. Since they obviously didn’t have millennia of technology to absorb and master, they had all the time in the universe to tinker about. Peridot rolled her eyes- what were the Authorities thinking? This had to be some form of subtle punishment, surely something this complex would never be put into the untrained hands of a new Gem.

She sighed heavily and picked up a new sheet of clear material- she believed this one to be some form of ore heated and sanded to translucence, but she couldn’t be sure- and began again. This time she started with attaching the main control chip to the visor, instead of applying moving parts. Maybe if she just made it look plausible, it would count? As if these inventions would ever be put to use in the real world.

Just as she had the chip implanted in the far left corner of the palm-sized sheet, and the first set of optical nerving wires pressed into their appropriate places, it shattered and fell through her detached fingers like sand.

“Augh!! This is pointless!” She knew better than to question her superiors, but this was becoming ridiculous. What were they trying to do, cross-train her as a maintenance drone or something?

The warp pad at the north wall of her workstation activated as she set down the remainder of her materials, and she had just barely enough time to collect herself and stand at attention before the overseeing instructor warped in.

She was short, unbelievably so for someone in her position. For a Gem that controlled the entire operator instructional facility, she had no obvious indicator of power about her. But maybe that was appropriate, since she had no fighters to oversee.

Peridot took her place directly in front of her bench, arms by her sides and fingers dangling downward. She kept her eyes lowered at a forty-five degree angle so as to not initiate direct eye contact with her superior.

“I assume all is going well? What have you for me yet?” she asked, her voice crisp and words heavily enunciated.

Peridot hoped that her progress would not set her too far behind. “The design continues to fail. Further amendments to the original prototype are required.”

The other Gem gave a hum, stepping forward and looking over Peridot’s work with a lack of expression.

“So you mean to tell me you have completed nothing, and are incapable of working with the parameters given?”

The room spun, visions of her inevitable demise passing before her very eyes. “The design has failed after multiple attempts at modeling. Amendments to the original design are required, lest the integrity of the machine be compromised.”

After giving her superior the emotionless equivalent of sass, her response was no surprise. She spoke as if she was reading from a manual:

“You are hereby removed from this operation. Trainees unable to complete mechanical cross-training will be reassessed for further usefulness.”

So Peridot’s musings had some merit in them- they were attempting to integrate the two professions… But the way she had said it led Peridot to wonder…

“Is the cross-training initiative only applicable to operators and mechanic drones?” She stated her inquiry respectfully, with no infliction to her voice to indicate the curiosity burning within her.

The older gem…smirked? Grinned? Some vaguely amused expression escaped her and she responded with a raised brow.

“Funny you should ask. You, along with the other score of defects who couldn’t build the prototype, will be stationed with a fighting class Gem of relatively close experience. Maybe since you’re so good at breaking things, you will fit right in.”

She left after without another word, turning her back and warping out of the room leaving Peridot speechless.

“Fighting….class?” She glanced down at her scrawny physique, her delicate fingers, and gaped.

Suddenly Peridot felt sympathy for the shattered remains of her failed projects.


	2. Concursion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot, along with the other members of her class that have failed to create a machine with their own hands, meets her new assignment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the short chapters, the next ones should be much longer! For information about updates and to ask any questions about terms I use or technology I reference, you can contact me on tumblr; p-dottie.tumblr.com

 

It wasn’t often that the landing pad of the northern triad was used as a place for business transactions. In fact, Peridot couldn’t think of a time when she had even stepped foot inside of it other than to be debriefed on the status of technological equipment on one interstellar craft or another.

Yet here she was, lined up against the back wall of the loading dock with approximately thirty of her colleagues. She didn’t know a one of them by name, had no reason to, but judging by their slim frames and metallic attributes, it was obvious to which class they belonged.

According to her calculations, it had been nearly three hours since the call had come in for her to report to the dock for “further instruction” from her superiors. Not a scrap of a gem had entered or exited the facility since she arrived within moments of receiving the summons.

Several of the young gems to either side of her were fidgeting, shifting back and forth on their feet and occasionally coughing to break up the silence. A few had attempted to converse with Peridot, questioning her on the purpose of the summons as if she would know.

She refused to reciprocate any form of idle chatter; she was here on orders, as they all were, and she was going to act like it. Honestly, if they were caught being so limp willed and impatient they could be demoted, or even terminated.

A light brownish gem turned to her, her first movement since she had taken her place, and spoke in a hushed whisper to Peridot.

“Do you think we’re going to be target practice, since we failed our first real assignments?”

Peridot felt a chill go down her back; she hadn’t even thought of that. Although communication between groups of young gems was limited, there were of course rumors, including the use of defective gemlings as proverbial punching bags for the fighter gems in training.

She shook this thought off, not willing to entertain it or the gem beside her. Surely their talents would not be throw away in such a callous manner. They were invaluable to this planet! She could understand the mechanic drones being tossed into the pit, but never gems with a true purpose!

“It makes sense you know. I heard someone say they had read a recent report on something similar. They sent in fifty Pearls to a chamber midday, and by the end of a single light period they were reduced to mineral dust on the ground. The other drones had to come in and sweep them up. It was hideous.”

“Would you stop being so foolish!” Peridot allowed herself to break protocol if only to correct the childish lies the other gem was spewing. She quickly bit her tongue, as the landing pad lit up a bright yellow and began flashing at slow, intermittent beats, indicating an incoming craft.

The ship was massive, a dark green with blue indicator lights in stripes along each side and right down the center. It was shaped like an enormous egg, with a flat bottom that expended air to slowly lower it onto the landing pad with a deep rumble.

The pod cracked open at the seams, the top peeling back and releasing steam as the hydraulics put in a great effort to lift the heavy metals. A ramp extended from the front opening and descended to touch the ground, and out stepped a giant the likes of which Peridot had never hoped to see.

Several giants, as it turned out. Each gem exiting the pod slightly larger and more intimidating than the one before it. She could hear a series of gasps on either side of her, and although she did not dare turn her head to see, one of her fellow conductors may have fallen to the ground in terror.

She spared a glance with just her eyes at the gem who had spoken to her earlier. Her eyes were hardened, expression flat and accepting of what she assumed to be her fate. It almost appeared as though she was steeling herself for battle.

Peridot wondered if maybe she too should prepare for the worst outcome possible.

The hulking gems lined up opposite of the much smaller gems waiting, trembling, fear bleeding out of their eyes as they struggled to remain stoic and calm.

The last figure to exit the ship was not one Peridot recognized, but she could place that air of authority anywhere. This must be their overhead, the gem in charge of the fighters.

She was massive, every inch of her body encased in thick ropes of muscle and fitted with a tight uniform worn by all of her subjects, clinging to the bulging weight of her and threatening to tear with each heavy step she took.

The conductors’ superior greeted her with no hesitation, and exchanged words that Peridot could not hear, gesturing vaguely between the two sets of juxtaposed gemlings. The larger leader cracked her knuckles and grinned, showing a row of bright teeth dripping with malice.

“Let’s get started!” Her voice boomed through the room, ricocheting off the walls and settling deep in Peridot’s bones.

The other set of gems began to move forward, as though they already were briefed on what to do when they got here. Lucky for them, being the only ones to know what is going on.

Peridot watched as each of her fellow technology experts shrunk down and were snatched up by the arms and hair by the brutish fiends. The gem beside her had been right. They were no longer of use, and were to be disposed of. What better way than by bettering the skills of another class of gems?

As a mammoth of a gem approached her, Peridot refused to cower beneath her imposing stature. She looked up, staring her right in her malicious yellow eyes, and didn’t break face, not even when a hefty palm captured her upper arm in a tight vice, pulling her a foot forward and up until her was on the tips of her boots to maintain balance.

“HEY! What did I say about not breaking them!” Upon hearing their superior’s resounding voice, the majority of the fighter gems stepped back slightly, visibly loosening their holds on the more pathetic-looking gems.

It would seem that the friend Peridot had made wasn’t one for following orders, as her grip only tightened on her arm and grin widened. She was lowered back onto the ground, probably so as not to appear as if she was struggling anymore, but the pain on her upper arm had numbed her hand.

“Better. Now get to work. And I don’t want to hear any complaints when this is over!”

A series of grumbles and eye rolls that would have had any one of Peridot’s colleagues beaten ensued, and the gaudy gems began going their separate ways, each with a smaller gem in tow.

Peridot looked up at the one holding her captive, staring into her yellow eyes, her sharp-toothed grin, her orange skin glistening with a fine sheen of sweat. She felt like she could see her entire existence ending right in front of her, the cause of her demise fogging up her visor with its rancid breath.

“Nice to meet ya runt. I’m Jasper, and I’m gonna teach yer scrawny ass how to fight.”


	3. No Filter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot and Jasper's first real interaction after meeting, along with a brief history of Homeworld.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh this chapter is so short but I wanted to post it separately from what will happen next! The next chapter will really get into their dynamic, and perhaps introduce another character or two! Refer to my tumblr for any questions or ideas you have! [p-dottie.tumblr.com]

Gems don’t need sleep to maintain functionality like most other species of sentient life do. They can go their entire existences without ever closing their eyes for longer than a moment. This means that productivity in a gem controlled planet is never an issue- with an entire population able to work around the clock, there is virtually no need for any one gem to do more than any other.

This also allows for little to no reproduction: so long as no gems are destroyed no gems need to be created. Given their extended life expectancies, the need to create new gems only comes around every few centuries due to gems either no longer being useful or by the destruction of masses of gems during the conquering of other planets.

When the time comes that new gems are required to maintain the vast network of planets controlled by the Diamond Authority, the anatomy of Homeworld is truly put to use.

The gems’ planet, where the Diamonds and all other gems originated, is made nearly entirely of semi active volcanoes. There are rivers of lava running in red veins along the crust of the rock, and magma seeping up from the mantle to feed them. It was within this web of molten mineral that the Diamonds were first forged, and after them all other gems that have ever existed.

Every gem within any star system in the universe has the same birthplace, and shares the common element of being forged from rock and heat. With technology ever expanding, the process of forging new gems has been exponentially shortened- one can be pressed and cut within a decade, rather than the thousands of years it takes to churn out a Diamond.

This being due only partially to the advances in gem technology; the Authority couldn’t have just any amount of their own class being forged left and right. Hence the regulation of gem creation- only a handful of gems were allowed to even know how their own kind was made, and only for the express purpose of operating the mines.

No other type of gem was allowed to associate with a Quartz gem. They were isolated, kept from any type of outside influence that could inspire any sort of uprising. Given that they are one of the weaker composites of mineral, individually a Quartz couldn’t do much to defend itself. But the knowledge of creation was a power that had to be kept under wraps at all costs.

Peridot had never even seen a Quartz gem. She sometimes wondered if they even truly existed, since she hadn’t come into contact with one even when she herself was forged not too long ago.

Being stuck in a partnership going absolutely nowhere and making exactly zero progress, she had plenty of time to daydream and wonder about the mysteries of her home planet. That is, until the next round of “let’s try to break Peridot” begins.

“Come on, you’re not even trying! Why is my talent being wasted on a dud like you?”

Jasper was blunt, rough with seemingly no understanding of personal differences other than a scale of good to better, and honest. Brutally so.

Peridot sighed and woke her mind from its stroll through lala land, tapping her fingers against her forehead in frustration.

“For the fifth and hopefully last time, I was not built for combat you ignorant dolt!” She stomped her foot at the end of her spurt, as if that would solidify her statement in the other gem’s mind.

“Well I wasn’t built to listen to whining.” Jasper grinned cockily, cracking her neck and advancing on Peridot slowly, her gait swaying back and forth as though she was rocking her hips on purpose with each step.

“You clearly weren’t built for much that’s for sure. You’re aerodynamically unsound and not to mention so off center it’s almost amusing,” Peridot mumbled under her breath, not intending to invoke the other gem’s rage, but feeling entitled to voice her opinion.

Jasper cocked a brow and frowned slightly, confused. “I’m what?”

Her limited vocabulary stunned Peridot. Did she really not know what was being said to her? She sighed and stepped forward, looking up to make eye contact with her ‘partner’.

“You’re bulky and not nearly symmetrical. Your head is too large in proportion to your shoulders and your hips are far too wide in comparison to your very narrow waist. You were obviously forged only for brute strength and not agility, speed, grace, or really any skill at all other than smashing your face into obstacles. But I guess you can’t expect any more from a war pawn.”

Peridot had gotten progressively closer to Jasper as she spoke, pointing at each of the features she was describing rather abrasively and counting them off on her fingers. She didn’t realize how harsh she sounded until she was finished with her analysis and saw the barely hidden insult in Jasper’s expression. It was too late to take it all back now, so she just crossed her arms and awaited a response.

Jasper took a deep breath in, straightening her back and squaring her shoulders, maybe to seem bigger, more intimidating? Maybe to conceal just how kicked she felt? She refused to make eye contact with Peridot, instead staring straight ahead at the wall behind her.

“We’re done here. If you want to actually take this cross training seriously and avoid termination, and maybe stop being such a bitch, you know where to find me.”

She turned and stalked out of their small arena, the electronic door shutting behind her quietly. Peridot wasn’t sure what to read from the atmosphere, but the air felt heavy and uncomfortable. Was it something she said?

 


	4. Automation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot goes to Jasper to apologize for insulting her. She gets wrapped up in more than the simple apology she had planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we get to see a bit of Peridot's history! This is where it will really diverge from canon, apart from the character's personalities. And we get to see Peridot use her weapon, how exciting! As always, if you have any questions or any ideas you'd like to see incorporated into the story, message me on tumblr! (p-dottie.tumblr.com)
> 
> Comments are always appreciated, I love hearing what you guys think.

 

“Renovate, don’t repair.” The motto of the Homeworld hierarchy, the new-fangled rule that-when executed properly and by the appropriate gem- was an invaluable tool in the success of the Diamond Authority.

Peridot could remember clear as glass the day that phrase was seared into her mind, carved into her skin and scarred over.

Since there was so much technology on their planet, and this tech was constantly advancing and receiving upgrades almost daily it seemed, the use of conductor gems was ever expanding.

Peridot was one in a trillion of her kind, forged in masses and given codes for ease of differentiation-if only to know their ages, their specific personalities wouldn’t matter even if they had time to develop them.

It would make perfect sense that if such a common gem were defective, they would be recycled immediately for the greater good of the planet. With so much expansion there was little to no room for pitying the frail and broken.

But with this new era of more intrinsic mechanics coming to power, there was now a choice for defective or heavily injured gems. For the first time in millennia, a common gem could choose their own fate.

Peridot had made her choice without hesitation. When she came out of the lava of the mines, freshly cut and weak as talc, her hot gem was analyzed for impurities and passed from the gentle hands of a nursery Quartz gem over to the scrutinizing hold of an Emerald.

The Emeralds, and a few other classes, were responsible for the sorting and classifying of newly made gems. Along with each gemling came a report of their mineral contents and quality of cut.

Peridot couldn’t remember the day she was forged, no gem could recall what happened before their first generation of a physical form, but the day after was painfully clear to her.

As she was assessed, an impurity was found near the center of her gem that under earlier circumstances would have meant extermination. In the new generation, it was a chance to experiment.

When she was allowed to generate her form, the small speck of unfinished rock in her gem reared its ugly dark head, patches of uncut, under heated mineral covering the otherwise perfect green on her fingertips.

Even with no knowledge beyond her own name, Peridot could tell that something was very wrong with the rough, dirty clusters of coal. She had a sense that it wasn’t normal, that she wasn’t right, impure, she could feel it in her gem.

It was a disgrace, and would surely have been the end of her career before she had the chance to begin it. But the Emerald holding her report gave her an option, a one-time offer to better herself, for the good of the empire.

“There is new technology available to fix you. You can either accept the prosthetic additions or be terminated as a burden on society.”

She grabbed onto that opportunity and never looked back. Not once did she glance over her shoulder as the Emerald guided her to a heavily lit room reeking of sterility, not when she was laid out flat on a hovering translucent yellow pad. Not when her fingers were surgically removed and cauterized with a gem targeting laser while she lie awake, teeth cutting into her tongue so she wouldn’t have another dark spot on her report by screaming. Not when her palm was threaded with wires and scarred beyond anything regeneration could fix.

In the span of a few hours on the pad, being tended to meticulously by a bot, she was fitted with bulky gauntlets to cover the scars and tracks of wire in her forearms, and her new hands were soldered onto the skin of her ruined wrists. A transparent green holopad was laid over her face and through it descended a hot needle straight into the center of her gem, injecting an acid to erode the impurities.

When all was said and done, and when she could finally open her eyes without tears escaping and revealing how weak she was, Peridot was fixed. Properly cut and pure, a perfect specimen with the aid of an excellent automation.

 

* * *

 

She was better for it, Peridot told herself during her infrequent moments of insecurity. None of the other operator gems could ever be as good as her, they could never feel technology in the way that she could. Not so intimately, so close to her own living flesh.

In any mission she would always be better suited than any other gem to assess functionality and repair error in code. She had always been ahead of her class, the very best at what she did.

She had an advantage. And she was damn well going to use it to earn her keep on this planet.

Even if it meant dragging herself to the quarters of her assigned partner to deliver what was to be the least heartfelt apology since the Diamonds themselves were forged.

After approaching the door to Jasper’s quarters nearly an hour ago, Peridot had found herself standing in place with no idea what move to make next. Why was she even there? She had nothing to apologize for- Jasper was a warrior in training, she should be able to take some criticism, it’s not Peridot’s fault she’s a sensitive gemling with no regards to knowing her faults.

Peridot sighed and raised an arm with the intent to knock, but was beat to it by the door sliding open and revealing a mammoth of a gem towering over her with a rather bored expression.

“What do you want?” Her voice was curt, words almost spit from her oddly soft set mouth.

Peridot straightened her shoulders and spoke evenly. “I came to apologize for critiquing you earlier. It is my duty to uncover faults in technology- not other gems.” Every word of her apology tasted like bile in the back of her throat.

Jasper stared at her for an uncomfortably long minute, her exact reaction impossible to predict as she had no tells whatsoever beyond a single lifted brow. She huffed what sounded like a noise of acknowledgement, a brief puff of air through her lips, then walked back into her quarters while signaling for Peridot to follow with a wave of her hand.

Hesitantly Peridot came in behind her, the door sliding shut automatically at her back. She looked around, taking in her surroundings for lack of anything better to do- the place was surprisingly orderly, and very blank, almost devoid of any sign that there was a living being occupying it save for a few books in the far corner and a semi-circle seating platform.

“Have a seat. We should talk.” Jasper plopped down on the platform and reclined, spreading her legs and resting her arms on the back of the couch.

What was there to talk about? She had already been given an apology, what more was there to discuss? Peridot sat next to her cautiously, straight-backed, limbs to herself, not entirely certain what was going on.

“About what? If it’s what I said then I have already apologized and see no reason for any further discussion of the event.”

Cutting her eyes at the smaller gem, Jasper gave her a quizzical look, brows raised and lips pursed. “Do you now? So I guess from now on I should defer to you on when I should speak or not. Glad to see you’re in charge of this dynamic, thanks for clearing that up.”

Peridot’s jaw dropped and she sputtered for a moment in her attempts to reply. “That is not what I meant! Don’t put words into my mouth like that!”

“Then don’t put any in mine! Now are you gonna keep assuming you know everything or are you gonna shut your trap and let me talk?”

Shifting slightly, Peridot remained silent and looked up to make eye contact with Jasper, signaling her to continue.

Jasper cleared her throat and ran a hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face before she turned to speak to her partner. “You were right. As much as it pisses me off to admit it, you’re right. I’m only made for one thing. But really we all are, aren’t we? So I guess it shouldn’t matter much when it’s pointed out to me that, during peace time, I’m pretty damn useless. A war pawn indeed, you hit the nail on the head Peri. You’re just as smart as you look.”

When she was finished, she starred off into space in the direction of the door, a far-away look in her eyes. Peridot wasn’t sure how to respond, or if she even wanted a response. She got her answer when Jasper continued her speech.

“If you ask me, I think it’s stupid to have gems of different class trying to work and live together. It just ain’t natural. You can try all you want, but you’re never gonna make a warrior into a genius. And no offense, but you could fight the most impure defective piece of shit to ever make it out of the mines alive and probably have to retreat into your gem in one hit.” She grinned at that, turning back to Peridot, this time apparently truly finished.

At the mention of defective gems Peridot could feel her skin prickle. This was not the time nor the place to get into that kind of conversation, she supposed there would never be a time when she wanted to acknowledge just exactly how she came to be. She had to change the subject, and fast, or else she would likely end up saying something she shouldn’t.

“Well that will certainly be true if you spend all your time chatting and not teaching me how to fight.”

Jasper grinned wide and stood up, taking a few steps back. “Aight Peri, come at me then.”

“Now? In here? I don’t want to cause damage to a room that cannot repair itself. This is no arena Jasper, you know that.”

“You wanted to learn, you’re gonna learn. Now get up and fight me.” She shifted on her feet, appearing antsy to begin.

Peridot rose from the couch with a deep sigh and positioned herself about six feet away from Jasper.

“Unless your fingers can fly off and hit me from over there, you’re going to have to come a little closer.” She only grinned wider at Peridot’s apparent lack of skill.

Her grin fell a bit when Peridot reached up to her forehead, pressing her fingers lightly to her now glowing gem.

“I didn’t say weapons now did I?”

“If you expect this fight to be realistic, then it only makes sense for us to use our weapons.” Peridot spoke in a very even tone, apparently focusing very hard on drawing her weapon. It was obvious she didn’t do this often, so it was going to take a moment.

Jasper donned her orange helmet with ease, crouching down in preparation to go on the defensive.

The green light emitted from Peridot’s gem became more intense, then suddenly spiked and snuffed out altogether, leaving a dome-shaped orb hovering right in front of her face. She opened her eyes and kept one hand raised to pick up the green object, holding it gingerly in her palm then walking up to Jasper slowly and setting it on the ground a few feet in front of her.

“What is that?” Jasper nudged the bulb with her foot, unsure of it.

“My weapon.” Peridot stepped back and raised her arms, the bulb on the ground quivering slightly at her movements. The top of the object split and opened two metal flaps to reveal several very tiny orbs, all of which hovered to about the height of Peridot’s shoulder before dispersing around Jasper at the command of Peridot’s fingers.

“The hell…” Jasper was perplexed, and reached a hand out to touch one of the tiny spheres.

“Firing.” Peridot flicked her wrist and three of the orbs began glowing green simultaneously, then exploded with a loud bang right in Jasper’s face.

Jasper was sent flying back against the wall of her room, nearly knocking the entire wall down. Her visor cracked down the center and a portion of her helmet had chipped. She coughed as dust from the nearly shattered wall rained down in a cloud around her.

“Your weapon is a…a BOMB?” She looked up at Peridot, incredulous, then smirked and picked herself up off the ground. “Go figure, give the weaklings the far range ones. My turn now.” She lunged forward to attack, hands out in front of her and feet leaving cracks in the floor as she rushed Peridot, grabbing her around the shoulders and shoving her into the wall behind her.

Peridot groaned in pain when she felt her back hit the wall with tremendous force, wishing she had better protective armor. Her arms were pinned to her sides, but her fingers could still move on their own, so she called up one of her orbs and pressed it to the back of Jasper’s knee before setting it off.

One pellet at a time wasn’t enough to do must damage, but it knocked Jasper down again easily, her heavy form falling to one knee with all of her weight in front of Peridot’s smug stance.

“If that’s all you’ve got to offer, then this is going to be a very short partnership on my end.” It was her turn to grin, twirling three orbs in between and around her fingers, her other hand on her hip cocked to the side.

“Are you calling me weak?” Jasper stood slowly, an absolutely predatory look on her face and she wrapped her fingers around Peridot’s throat, pulling her other arm back to deliver a hard punch to her left cheek, then head-butted her hard. The wall behind her head caved in, debris piling up around her as Jasper tossed her down to the floor then picked her back up with an uppercut to the jaw.

Peridot crumpled to the ground, settling against the debris with a cough and not moving after that. She remained motionless for just long enough to worry Jasper, who bent down to check on her.

“Maybe that was a bit much. You gonna live?” She cocked her head to the side, dissipating her helmet, then smacked the back of her neck when she thought she felt something crawling on her.

When she heard the beep it was too late to walk away. Her eyes went wide as the small orb detonated right at the back of her head, sending her face into the pile of wall on the floor, her entire body splayed out over Peridot’s now-very much alive- chuckling form.

“Maybe THAT was a bit much.” She tried to sit up, but Jasper’s weight was pressing her into the floor. “Okey I think we’re finished here. Now let me up.”

Jasper shifted on top of her, sitting up but not letting Peridot get up just yet. She had a wild, hyper look in her eyes. “That was amazing! You’ve got some good tactics green, I’ll admit that much. Respect.” She nodded to her, standing and helping Peridot up with a hand.

“Well, we tech gems may not be much for war, but a most of us are more than capable of defending ourselves.” She brushed herself off and shook dust from her hair, calling her last orb to back into her gem. “Is your weapon seriously a giant helmet? So you literally just. Bash your head into things?”

“Yeah. What’s so funny?” Jasper scowled as Peridot began to laugh, covering her mouth with a hand to try not to crack up quite so bad. “In a real fight you would have been dead by now. I went easy on you.”

“Why?” Her laughter had died down a bit, but not entirely. “You don’t have a soft spot for smaller gems do you? Now that isn’t very befitting of a warrior.”

“As if! I could snap you in two anytime I wanted. You’re lucky we have to work together or I’d have already beaten you into the ground.” Jasper’s frown deepened and she stalked away to move the couch back into its original positon.

Peridot contained herself, not wanting to poke the beast in the cage more than she already had. It wasn’t until the adrenaline had run its course that she could feel the pain she was in. She rubbed her cheek tenderly, hissing at the sting. “Now that that’s over with, I can’t wait to do something less…painful. Like teach you some basic mechanics. I think if we start with the physical aspects rather than the electronics and coding, you might pick up on it better.”

Jasper groaned, flopping herself onto the couch and stretching out. “I don’t wanna learn about robotics. Count me out.”

“You don’t have a choice. Cross-training goes both ways you know.”

“Maybe they’ll cancel this project before then.” She scratched the back of her head where the bomb had it- there was a slight bump there.

Peridot went to the far end of the room, the door opening for her as she approached it. “Not likely.”

Jasper laughed at the spattering of dust on her bottom as she left, but elected not to tell her about it.

Maybe it would give Jasper another reason to talk to her later.


	5. On the Clock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot figures out a way to teach Jasper a bit about technology. Maybe the cross-training won't be so difficult after all!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan on posting updates on Mondays from now on.  
> As always, comments are appreciated!  
> Feel free to contact me on my tumblr if you have any questions or ideas you would like to see written in! (p-dottie.tumblr.com)

Homeworld, unlike most planets in its star system, has no moons orbiting it. The gravitational pull would prove hazardous to the geology of the planet, so it was for the better that the galaxy hadn’t seen fit to give it any moons. Due to this, the cycles of day and night were at times difficult to distinguish from one another, as Homeworld was light years away from the nearest star hot enough to give off substantial light.

Instead of monitoring the position of stars and moons, gems based their calendar days and nights on the amount of ambient light available. At any given time, based on the tilt of the planet, there could be no light at all, or enough light to scorch the dirt.

Most gems lived in housing units that closely resembled perfect cubes; there was usually an arena for training, or a study room for perfecting academic trades, and a lounge of sorts in which to rest. Sleep wasn’t necessary, but many gems found it useful to be stationary for a period of time every few days as a way to relieve stress.

Not every gem could see in the dark, so artificial lights were built into housing units in the form of small panels on the ceiling of each room, with wires leading to a control room which contained the power source for any appliances in the unit. These wires were normally threaded through walls and ceilings to avoid being stepped on, as the electrical power coursing through them was strong enough to nearly kill some gems.

Peridot found herself sitting in the control room of her and her partner’s shared living unit, mounds of sparking wire and metal coils piling up on every side of her.

When they had fought only weeks earlier, in an unprotected room, against Peridot’s expert opinion, many wires had been torn from the walls and several lights in the unit had ceased being operational.

The fault was entirely Peridot’s, as much as she hated to admit it- Jasper had no idea how electrical wiring was set in housing units, she wasn’t expected to- so the blame was on her when the power in their unit had gone haywire and appliances began malfunctioning.

She couldn’t even properly repair her own robotic parts until the main power outlet was fixed. During their scuffle, she had fallen on one of her forearms and nearly severed one of the connective lines in her wrist. It would make due for a while longer, but as soon as she got the main outlet up and running, some tune ups were going to be made.

Just as she had reattached one of the multitudes of wires to the control panel, she heard footsteps headed in her direction. She picked her head up from its position nearly laying on the panel to speak out to the door.

“Jasper! Get in here!” The footsteps got closer until Jasper appeared in the doorway, her eyes bulging as she took in the wreckage around her.

“Damn…what happened here?” She took a few cautious steps inside, accidentally stepping on some (hopefully not important) circuit board.

“YOU happened, that’s what. When you took out those walls in your leisure room, a lot of sensitive electronics were taken out as well.”

Peridot soldered one last green wire to a silver piece of metal, sparks flying and bouncing off her visor.

“Come over here, and be careful- every one of these is live right now, so just. Don’t touch anything unless I say so. Sit in that clear patch over there.” She pointed to a single square foot of clear ground to the right and back of her.

Jasper tip toed over to the spot and settled down on the floor, nudging some parts away with the toe of her boot so she wouldn’t sit on a few thousand volts by accident.

“What am I supposed to be doing?” She leaned forward to look over Peridot’s shoulder at the confusing bundle of color in her hands.

“Learning. I suppose seeing actual broken technology might be easier for you than reading about it.” Peridot was shocked by a blue wire audibly, but she made no move to act like it had hurt. Her voice remained level, and she didn’t drop anything.

“Okey. What’s that?” Jasper pointed to the metal coil in Peridot’s left hand that she was soldering a few wires to.

“Conductor. It facilitates the electrical messages from the main control panel to the smaller, specialized panels throughout the housing unit.” She held it up a bit for Jasper to see, the metal in her bare hands apparently not live.

Jasper reached a hand out to grab it, wanting a closer look, and was shocked so hard she was sent flying back a few feet with a pained shout.

“DAMN IT.” She hissed and shook her hand, trying to get it to cool off after being electrocuted so hard.

“WHAT did I JUST tell you, you ignorant GEMLING?” Peridot groaned and smacked herself on the top of the head, getting up to go check on Jasper. “You could have killed yourself! Learn to follow directions if you ever want to live to see a real war.”

Jasper grunted as Peridot took her hand and looked it over, frowning at the blisters bubbling up on her skin. “Why did that hurt? I thought it wasn’t electrified!”

Peridot looked up at her with a quizzical expression, her brows raised into her hairline.

“I told you all the wires were live, what made you think that a metal coil, COVERED in live wires wouldn’t be electrified?”

“Well it wasn’t shocking you!” Jasper rolled her eyes and took her hand back, examining it herself.

“I…that’s. Well- just. Don’t touch anything else.” Peridot got up and went back to her work, picking up the coil like it was just a piece of rubber.

Jasper creeped up to sit behind her again, watching her movements like a hawk. She paid special attention to the bright green and blue sparks hitting Peridot’s fingers with seemingly no affect. How was she taking that kind of hit like it was nothing? Was her pain tolerance really that high? There was no way, Jasper reasoned, she practically passed out when she got a punch to the jaw weeks ago. The bruise was only healed by a few days.

“Why doesn’t it hurt you?” she whispered accidentally, not meaning to actually voice her words.

Peridot waiting a good long while before speaking, presumably gathering her thoughts while she untangled a big wad of orange wire. Just how much could she safely tell without giving away too much information? Would telling only half the truth only make the curiosity worse?

“Will you shut up about it and let me finish here if I tell you?’

Jasper nodded, then realized Peridot wasn’t looking at her and spoke. “Yeah sure whatever. This stuff is boring anyway.”

Peridot took a deep breath- for some reason the act of breathing was calming even though it wasn’t needed- and set down her mass of wires. She held out her right hand so Jasper could see, and spread her fingers out like a display.

“See this?” She pointed a finger to her wrist and motioned up and down from there to her fingertips.

“Yeah I’m not blind. What about it? Do your freaky fingers have permanent gloves or something like that?” Jasper sounded bored already, a good sign. Maybe she could get away with a limited explanation.

“Or something.” Peridot shrugged and went back to work, assuming the subject had been dropped.

Jasper scowled, not happy with the half-assed answer. She reached a hand out quickly and grabbed one of Peridot’s fingers, expecting her whole hand to follow when she tugged on it, but was surprised as the digit separated from her hand altogether.

“What the hell?” She brought it up to her face and looked it over closely while Peridot turned to her with the most appalled expression she’d ever seen.

“JASPER!” Peridot gaped at her, looking back and forth from her hand with only four fingers to the missing one in Jasper’s hand. “Give it back!”

“Do they all come off like that? Does it hurt? Do all techy gems have freaky hands like you?”

Jasper’s questions became increasingly personal, and Peridot felt she’d had enough. She snatched the finger back and let it float back to its home, turning around with a sour look.

“Go away. You are getting in the way of my work.”

“Now hold on- you didn’t answer any of my questions. I thought you were supposed to be teaching me. ‘Cross-training goes both ways’, that’s what you said, right?” Jasper scooted closer to her, leaning over her shoulder obnoxiously.

She had a point- Peridot couldn’t deny that. With a heavy sigh she lifted her hand again for Jasper to see, touching the underside of her wrist gauntlet with a finger from her left hand, causing a panel to open from the top, revealing a complex system of wires not unlike what she was working on for the control panel.

“Whoa…” Jasper didn’t try to touch it, thankfully, but she did lean closer, all but smothering Peridot to get a good look.

“I am equipped with…some complicated, intricate technology that allows me to…better do my job. I don’t get shocked by the live wires because my hands don’t have nerves like most do, and because my fingers have a protective coating to prevent malfunction in the circuits on my wrists if they get wet or, in this case, electrocuted.”

“That is…”

Peridot waited with bated breath for the inevitable- being told she wasn’t a real gem, that she was a disgrace, impure, defective-

“Amazing!”

“Yes I am aware that—what?” She had to do a double take, turning around to gauge Jasper’s reaction.

Jasper’s eyes were wide with a childlike excitement, and she had the most genuine smile Peridot had ever seen on her.

“This is amazing! You weren’t forged with it, were you? When did you have it done? Did it hurt?” She rattled off questions a mile a minute, stunning Peridot with how eager she was to learn.

Well if this was the way to reach Jasper’s underdeveloped thirst for knowledge, then she’s just have to deal with it. Peridot couldn’t risk being demoted because she couldn’t successfully merge their two specialties.

“No I wasn’t forged like this, they were installed the day after my first generation. And I don’t really remember if it hurt.” That was a bold faced lie, but she didn’t feel like discussing the more personal aspects. “Would you like to…help me fix it?”

“Fix what? Is it broken?”

“Yes. When we sparred before, the wiring took some cosmetic damage. It’s still fully functional, but if I don’t repair it soon I could lose function in a couple of my fingers for a while. It’s easier to do touch-ups than big repairs, since I only have one other hand to work with, instead of the two I use on other objects.”

“Oh shit. Yeah I’ll help you fix it, sure thing. But um. I don’t know if I’m really the uh, best candidate to be doing work on your parts.” Jasper grinned cheekily, leaning a bit closer to Peridot now that they were facing each other. “Not those parts at least.”

Peridot scoffed and rolled her eyes, Jasper’s infantile sense of humor not amusing her in the slightest. “Well since you’re so interested, and your attention span for anything you don’t find interesting is equal to that of a shattered robonoid, this will be an excellent opportunity to actually teach you something. I don’t want to fail this assignment because you are unwilling- or unable- to learn basic robotics.”

“I’m not stupid! This stuff is just boring as hell.” Jasper went to lean back on her hands and got shocked again- thankfully by a much lesser charge. “Damn it! Can we do this somewhere else? With less death traps on the ground?”

Peridot snickered at her misfortune, closing the panel on her wrist and getting up. She kicked a stack of dead board to the side and made her way to the door, scooting metal out of the way as she went so Jasper wouldn’t shock herself again.

“As amusing as seeing you get electrocuted is, I think a change of scenery would be a good idea.”

Jasper followed her out, wary of the sparks traveling on the ground.

Maybe, Peridot mused, this wouldn’t be as hard as she was originally expecting- she’d already picked up on some of Jasper’s technique when fighting, the footwork, the careful predictions. Surely teaching the giant baby some useful tricks in technology wouldn’t be so difficult, especially when she was so interested. But she had to wonder- was Jasper genuinely impressed by the advanced mechanics, or did she only find novelty in it because it was attached to Peridot?


	6. Fine Tuning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot teaches Jasper some basics of the mechanical portion of her job- starting with repairing a broken roboniod, then moving on to some more complicated technology.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is late! I will try to keep schedule next week.  
> As always comments and critiques are always appreciated! If you have any questions or ideas, feel free to inbox me on tumblr at p-dottie.tumblr.com.

 

War was a state that Homeworld was very comfortable with, having been actively at war for the vast majority of its life as a planet. Taking over other planets, utilizing their resources and space, was at the top of the Diamond Authority’s to-do list. Thus, war gems were always in high demand. Hardy, easy to train, eager to please. They were the golden retriever of gems- loyal to a fault and ready to follow orders from anyone above them.

Jasper had never resented her status as a warrior- one would be hard pressed to find a gem that did, it was a revered class. But the job didn’t come with as much respect as she felt it deserved.

Fighting class gems ranked somewhere in the lower-middle class of gems, above the maintenance drones but way below any diplomatic official. Even tactical operations gems ranked above a fighter- and all they did was make guesses all day, not even doing any real combat!

Jasper and Peridot were nearly equal in rank, their positions relatively close on a spectrum that ranged from invaluable to easily expendable. They didn’t have any leg up over the other, they were even the same age.

So when Peridot sat Jasper down in a room with broken robonoids littered on the floor-she presumed it was the tech gem’s quarters, given the contents- and started barking orders at her, she had to do a double-take.

“Hey now slow down. You want me to what?” Jasper crossed her arms and kicked a crushed metal sphere out of her way.

“Pick up a robonoid and do everything I say.” Peridot’s tone was final, as though she had a right to tell Jasper what to do. She showed no signs of trepidation when Jasper glared at her after her comments.

“Well? Get to it.”

Jasper responded to the commanding tone of her voice more on instinct than on any decision, immediately cursing herself when she found herself sitting on the floor with a robot in her hand without even realizing she’d moved.

“Fine. What do I do with the thing? It’s literally smashed to bits.” She turned the orb over in her hands, tossing it in the air and catching it a few times.

“You’re going to take it apart. Then put it back together.” Peridot went about her own business on another end of the room, opening a panel from the wall that was invisible until she’d touched it.

“Why?”

“Because I cannot trust you with the delicate mechanics of my body until you’ve proven to me that you can handle a robot with care!” Peridot snapped at her, turning to her with a glare that could cut steel.

Jasper sat the broken robot down with a smirk.

“Oh don’t worry your pointy little head, I may look mean but I can be real gentle.” She looked Peridot up and down with an invasive glance, as though she was touching her body from ten feet away. She supposed the scrawny gem had some appeal to her, now that Jasper was really looking her over (albeit for a joke).

Peridot huffed and strolled over to where Jasper was sitting, lowering herself to the ground in front of her and settling on her knees, unfazed by her remarks.

“You have to understand that I have absolutely no faith in your ability to be any sort of gentle. Your hands themselves are enormous and the entirety of your person was forged to destroy, not to create or heal. I’m going to need to trust you before I can really teach you, it seems.”

Jasper brought a hand up to her face, inspecting the red palm closely- she supposed Peridot was right, she really wasn’t made for this kind of work. But she wasn’t about to quit before she’d even begun.

“How do I take apart the robot?” She sighed and picked it back up, poking at a stray wire.

Peridot guided her through the fairly simple mechanics with as ease she had never expected- Jasper was a surprisingly quick learner, and very good at following directions. It was almost as if she was an extension of Peridot’s own mind the way she responded to her every word with an exactness to rival a computer program.

Within a handful of hours the project was complete, and between them sat an intact robonoid. It was by no means functional, many of its components had been damaged beyond repair ages ago. But it had sustained no added damage during Jasper’s “lesson”, so Peridot would consider this a win.

Jasper had been sitting back and grinning at her for nearly five minutes before she finished her examination of the robot and said what Jasper wanted to hear with a heavy sigh.

“Alright. Now we try my hand.” She opened the panel from earlier and tinkered with a couple of wires. By the time she revealed the compartment where the damage was located, Jasper had nearly had an aneurism from her impatience.

“Okey so what do I do? How do I fix it? What’s broken?” Jasper’s enthusiasm was delightful, if not a bit off-putting. Weren’t warriors supposed to be brash and controlling? Whatever had happened to the harsh grabby hands of the Jasper she’s met not long ago?

When Jasper reached out and took hold of her wrist, dragging it up to her face, Peridot was reminded of her grabby hands.

“There is a section in this compartment with many small, square fixtures- do you see it? It’s yellow.”

Jasper looked her hand over then nodded, spotting what appeared to be a very tiny keyboard with no letters on it. “Yeah I found it.”

“Alright. There is a metal sheet directly beneath that panel which conducts messages sent from my gem to my hand. It has to touch another compartment beneath it with just the right amount of pressure for conduction to be efficient. When we fought, it was jarred just slightly, and the pressure is off. What you need to do is VERY LIGHTLY apply pressure to the upper left corner of the section with your fingertips until the connection is reset.”

Jasper nodded her head along with the instructions, occasionally humming as she absorbed the information. She looked to Peridot as she brushed her fingers over the panel, waiting for her to nod the affirmative before carefully pressing on a square. When she pushed it down, one of Peridot’s fingers bent at a ninety degree angle and stuck that way, twitching. Jasper raised a brow and let off the spot just a bit, and the finger went back to normal.

“I guess you could say I’m….pressing your buttons?” She smirked at Peridot, running a finger along a line of the buttons mischievously. Jasper knew very well she would get her ass kicked for her next move, but she couldn’t help pressing a couple of the buttons at once to see what would happen.

“Don’t touch that!” Before she could jerk her arm away, two of her fingers disconnected and hovered a few inches from Jasper’s face.

“Cool…What else do these buttons do?” Jasper let go of the panel, but held Peridot’s hand in hers still.

“Each one represents a different function of my hands- when stimulated by my gem in a certain order, they control my finger movements.” Peridot made no move to take back her hand, letting Jasper satisfy her curiosity.

“If your gem controls it…I wonder if..” Jasper mumbled to herself, then leaned forward and pressed a finger on her empty hand to Peridot’s gem through her visor.

Nothing happened on her hand, where Jasper was watching thoroughly, but her face flushed just a slight shade darker than her natural skin tone, and her eyes immediately went to the floor to avoid Jasper’s gaze when she looked up.

“Touching my visor doesn’t affect my hands.” Her voice was lowered a bit, as though speaking too loud would cause something to break.

“What about your gem, when the visor is off?” Jasper mimicked Peridot’s tone, her words spoken softly.

Peridot shifted from her knees to sit with her legs crossed on the floor, then-with her eyes still trained on the tile-dissipated her visor with a blink.

Jasper took the silent invitation, brushing her fingertips over the glimmering stone delicately. Once again her hands didn’t respond, but Peridot did. Jasper took note of how she wiggled the fingers of her unaffected hand, picking at the fabric of her leggings and tapping on her knee, and how she seemed to cave in on herself, her shoulders pulled together making her seem even smaller than she already was.

In what was probably a very bad show of her tendency to act without thinking, Jasper brought Peridot’s open hand up to her face and pressed a button within her wrist, causing her fingers to lay directly on Jasper’s gem.

Generally, someone didn’t just touch your gem for no reason. It was an invasion of personal space, and usually reserved as an act of trust, of intimacy- letting another being hold your center of control. Gems were hard, they could sustain a hit, but in the hands of a stronger being it was a death sentence.

They sat in silence for a few moments, Peridot staring a hole in the floor and Jasper watching her every move. Jasper hadn’t shifted an inch, her only movement being her fingers absentmindedly rubbing the smooth surface of Peridot’s gem while she watched her practically rock back and forth. She could feel Peridot’s fingers on her own gem, but she wasn’t moving them at all.

“Do you not have function in this hand right now? I didn’t break you, did I?” The concern was clear in Jasper’s voice.

“No um. You did quite well. It’s…completely operational.” Peridot’s words had a slight break in them-her nerves coming through in her speech. She rubbed at the apex of Jasper’s gem gently, admiring the sharp cut of the stone. Jasper seemed to lean into the touch, a wide grin breaking out across her face.

“Nice! Looks like we make a pretty good team, huh?”

Peridot looked up at her, smiling bashfully- an expression so out of character for her Jasper had to blink a few times to be sure she wasn’t going blind.

“We certainly do.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if that was up to par you guys! I am debating on what to do next for their friendship to move forward, how they will react to this situation, etc. So if you have ideas hit me up!


	7. Commander

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After noticing how well Jasper took orders from her, seemingly without even realizing, Peridot begins to take advantage of Jasper’s tendency to respond to a commanding tone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has to be one of my favorite chapters thus far. My beta and I went over the undertones for over an hour ehehe. As always, comments and critiques are appreciated! If you have questions or requests send me a message on tumblr at p-dottie.tumblr.com.

 

 

“Jasper!” Peridot’s shrill voice echoed down the corridor from the control room to Jasper’s quarters, calling her out from halfway across the housing unit.

In a matter of moments, no longer than it took for Peridot to take a breath after shouting, Jasper appeared in the doorway with an inquisitive look on her face.

“Yeah? What do you need?” She entered the room cautiously; while it was a much neater sight than it had been the first time she was here, Jasper remembered the sting of active wires too well for her to just come barging in and risk that pain again.

Peridot was nowhere to be found, but her voice rang out from behind a large metal pillar.

“Come here. Move this pillar off of my body.”

Jasper carefully made her way over to the source of Peridot’s words, finding her pinched between the pillar and the wall of the control room. It was a pretty amusing sight: her arms were stuck to her sides, but her fingers were disconnected and attempting to move the pillar, while her legs were bent at an awkward angle so that it was only the pressure of the pillar even holding her upright.

The snicker that escaped Jasper’s lips might earn her a lecture later, but it was just too ridiculous of a sight.

“Alright hold on. You aren’t hurt anywhere, are you?” She spoke as she lifted the pole and tossed it on the ground, simultaneously catching Peridot in her free arm when her feet gave out from under her.

“I am fine. Now pick up the pillar and follow me, I need to set it up.” Peridot extracted herself from Jasper’s grip and dusted herself off, walking over to another corner of the room that contained some of the wire mess from their last escapade in this room.

Jasper huffed and picked up the pole, following her while avoiding various obstacles.

“Set it down on that red pad. Yes, right there. Wait, maybe a little to the left. Apply more pressure, it needs to adhere.”

Every order snapped from Peridot’s jaw was followed, much to Jasper’s displeasure. She enjoyed being of use, especially when it involved a show of her strength, but the way Peridot was speaking to her unsettled her.

For the past week in fact, ever since they took apart that robonoid and fixed Peridot’s hand, she had been acting…off. The only time she spoke to Jasper was to tell her to do something, which wasn’t too different from the usual, but there was something off in her tone. Like instead of asking, she was ordering.

“Alright that’s good. Go pick up the yellow rubbed square from the far side of the room-it’s right next to the power box, be careful- and bring it to me. Then go to your quarters to check if the light panels are all working correctly. Report back here when you’re done to relay the results.”

Peridot didn’t even look up from her work, just continued her tinkering while she gave Jasper a long list of tasks.

Almost automatically Jasper went about doing what she was told, without much thought. She brought Peridot the rubber then went to her room and stood for a moment, examining the panels. Two were flickering.

She returned to the control room and stood beside Peridot, looking over her work It looked beyond complicated. Jasper found herself wanting to know what those parts did…

“All but two panels are working fine, the other two are blinking. What are you working on? What does that pillar do?” Jasper set about satisfying her curiosity.

Peridot seemed to have other ideas. “Good, good. Conduction is nearly optimal. Go back to your room and push up on the panels, tell me if they give any room. If they wiggle then we have more damage to deal with.”

Jasper scowled, not moving from her place. “Aren’t you going to answer my questions?”

“Oh. Yes I will answer all of your questions later. Now go check those panels.”

Her tone was starting to piss Jasper off. “You’re supposed to be teaching me, so teach! What does all this shit do?”

Peridot turned to face her, puffing out her chest slightly. “I will teach you later. Go check the panels!” Her voice held an air of authority, the one she used when telling Jasper to take apart the robot not a week ago. It hit something in her and before she was ready to respond, she found herself in her room.

That was strange. Jasper could have sworn she never moved. But looking back, she realized that she had simply nodded at Peridot’s command and did as she was told. She grit her teeth, steam about to come from her ears. She knew what was going on here.

Jasper stormed into the control room, stomping up to Peridot and taking her by the shoulder, making her stand and look her in the eye.

“What’s the big idea here? Did you think I wouldn’t notice what you’re doing! Who the fuck do you think you are, barking orders like a commanding officer!”

Jasper’s words were spit out, stinging Peridot as she spoke. Was that really what she had been doing? She did wonder why Jasper seemed so willing to take orders from her lately…

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! I have not been “barking orders”, I’ve simply asked for your assistance and you gave it, _willingly._ “

Jasper scowled, bending down to get in Peridot’s face. “Asked? When was the last time you asked me to do anything? Think about it, Peridot. Think real hard.”

Peridot thought back on the past few days, all the requests she had made for Jasper’s help. A sinking feeling was forming in her abdomen as she recalled her own words.

_“Pick up a robonoid and do everything I say.”_

_“Be quiet!”_

_“Hold this, and don’t move until I come back.”_

_“Come here.”_

_“Report back here when you’re done.”_

_“Go check the panels!”_

“Jasper I…” Peridot stumbled over her words, not sure how to respond. Jasper was right, she had learned what tone her partner would respond to like a robot and used it against her. Unknowingly, but still she had done it.

“Yeah that’s what I thought. You like giving orders huh? You like telling me what to do?” She grinned wide, but it wasn’t the humorous expression Peridot had grown accustomed to. “Well then. Order away. If you want to be a commanding officer, that’s how I’ll treat ya.”

“Jasper I apologize for…what?” Peridot was perplexed; surely this was a form of sarcasm?

“You heard me. Tell me what to do, Peridot.” Jasper had stepped closer, her hand still gripping Peridot’s shoulder hard. It reminded her of the day they met, the way the large gem had taken hold of her and not let go until her arm nearly fell off. Her grip tightened, nails digging into the fabric of her uniform. “I’m waiting.”

The pinch of her clothes against her skin was stinging, and her muscles began to ache from the pressure of Jasper’s hold. “Please let go, you’re hurting me.”

“What was that? I didn’t understand what you want, I’m just forged to fight remember? I only know how to do as I’m told. It’s not like I have actual feelings!” Jasper’s voice was booming, but it was the look in her eyes that hurt Peridot more than the volume of her words.

“Jasper…you know better than that. Now please, release me, we need to talk about this.” Peridot laid a hand over Jasper’s, hoping to get through to her.

The hand lowered to her upper arm and her fingers wrapped around it like a vice. She could snap her bones like graphite if she wanted.

“I don’t know any better, I’m just made for head-butting obstacles, right? A brute like me could never understand how to handle a fragile gem like you.” It must have been the lighting, but Peridot could have sworn she saw water collecting in Jasper’s eyes.

“You said it yourself, that you could be gentle! I trusted you with my most sensitive mechanics, I know that you are better than this. I’m very sorry for how I’ve treated you, it was unprofessional and out of my jurisdiction and…and it was wrong. I’m sorry, Jasper. Please let me go.”

Jasper seemed to be at war with herself, her expression shifting back and forth, her brow furrowing and relaxing, mouth grimacing and then pressing into a flat line while her eyes hardened and her hand squeezed harder.

“Like you said. You can’t expect any more from a war pawn.”

Peridot began to feel fear, real fear, for the first time around Jasper. The look in her eyes said she was in pain, but her actions spoke otherwise. It was very conflicting but Peridot knew if she didn’t respond quickly, her arm could be shattered.

“Oh yes I can.” She groaned at the pain in her arm when she tugged on it, then stepped close enough to Jasper that their chests were pressed together and she could smell the sweat on her skin.

“’I may look mean, but I can be real gentle.’ That’s what you said, wasn’t it? Well then, I will trust those words.” Peridot took a deep breath, steadying herself; this was probably the most asinine thing she’d ever done, or would ever do, but she saw very few ways out of this that didn’t involve ruining the connection and progress they had made.

Peridot dissolved her visor, leaving her gem unprotected, and looked up to Jasper with the softest expression she could manage. She took Jasper’s hand, the one that wasn’t crushing her arm, and tugged on it. Surprisingly it moved for her. She pulled the hand up and pressed it directly to her gem, eyes still fixed on Jasper’s.

The water filling Jasper’s eyes began to flow over, spilling down her cheeks silently. Her grip on Peridot’s arm loosened, and she rubbed the bruises she’d left gently, running her fingers up and down her arm apologetically. She removed her hand from Peridot’s gem and pulled her into a light embrace, careful not to hurt her any more than she already had.

Peridot placed her hands on Jasper’s broad back, patting her as she shook a bit. She didn’t make any noise when she cried, perhaps in an effort to hide the act, but Peridot paid it no mind. It only lasted a moment, then Jasper pulled back and wiped her face quickly, riding her skin of the evidence.

“I truly am sorry, I…had no idea you felt this way.” Peridot wiped at some moisture on Jasper’s cheek that she had missed. “I won’t do it again.”

Jasper coughed out a laugh, her hands moving to rest on Peridot’s hips. “I’m a fucking wreck Green, I shoulda been culled the day I was forged.”

A silent ‘me too’ reverberated in Peridot’s mind, but she kept it to herself. This wasn’t the time to discuss her own traumas.

“Nonsense. You are fantastic. Much more than just a pawn of war, Jasper. I don’t know any fighting gems that could handle such delicate robotics efficiently.”

Jasper gave her the grin she wanted, the one that meant she was no doubt having mischievous thoughts. Her fingers framed Peridot’s hips, holding her close.

“I can handle _you_ pretty efficiently.” She wiggled her brows, a snicker coming from between her smiling lips.

Peridot raised a brow, pursing her lips in a cheeky smile. “Oh can you now?”

It was the first time she had responded to any of Jasper’s antics, and it threw her off a bit, surprise showing on her features.

“Absolutely.”

Jasper took Peridot’s chin in her hand, lifting her face up to press a wet kiss to her mouth. She tasted like metal and winning, and Jasper ached for more.


End file.
